Reflection for Sunday – March 1, 2026

Denise MackSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Genesis 12: 1-4a; 2 Timothy 1: 8b-10; Matthew 17: 1-9 
Preacher: Deni Mack

Did you hear the first line of today’s first reading?  God said to Abraham, “go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.” And God promised to bless Abraham so that Abraham would be a blessing to all the communities on earth.  And that is precisely what has happened all these years despite the blocks to God’s blessing, despite wars, despite pogroms, despite any regime’s cruelties.  The children of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar are Jews, Muslims, Christians and more.  Many are blessing their communities and ours. 

Blessings poured through our offspring who saw me outside holding my compost pail up as I tried to get up, to no avail, having slipped and broken my femur.  Our daughter and her family blessed me by calling for an ambulance to a hospital filled with blessings galore through the entire surgical and therapeutic process. 

 A rabbi was the first to send me prayer and blessings; a priest drove 11 miles in snow and ice to anoint me with the sacrament of the sick; a protestant minister came and took a photo of us; two Eucharistic ministers brought me communion from two different parishes.  Abraham’s blessing is as God promised.  God’s blessings are multiplying and spreading.  For many though, blessings seem dormant or illusive.  

To be a blessing is a matter of free will.  We are free to be a blessing to others no matter the obstacles.  We are free to not be a blessing.  We are free to not follow God’s urging, God’s push, God’s will. We are free to ignore people who apparently are being blessings.  Do we see people sharing abundantly, listening with attention, speaking with hope, love and compassion.  We’re tempted to not be a blessing because wisely, we do not want to be taken advantage of.  Or we think we’ve plenty of time and will get to it tomorrow or next paycheck or when we are not so busy.  Or we’ve let our innate human desire to respond to human need be repressed.  Or might we judge those in need as deserving of their suffering?  None of the last two reasons to stifle their blessings apply to you dear reader.  If they do apply to anyone, could it be that they believe lies told them so often they have misplaced their humanity, their moral compass, their conscience?  How can we be a fount of God’s blessings to them?

In today’s psalm we prayed God loves justice and right.  We prayed God sees those who hope for God’s kindness and God preserves us in times of famine.  While we may believe all of that we also know people who have reason to doubt it.  Not everyone has felt seen by God; not all have felt God’s kindness or felt preserved in times of hunger, incarceration, flood, fire, abandonment, neglect, betrayal, false accusations, oppression, painful terminal illness and other troubles. Where are God’s blessings for all of them all the time?  Hold onto that question.  Where are God’s blessings for people who are suffering at the hands of callous cruelty or fearful followers of vicious orders?  

We know where God’s blessings are. Right in our hands and hearts and feet. We listen to God as Jesus did on the mount of transfiguration.  We listen to God right here as we study the troubles around and within us.  We, like Peter, James and John listen to God as we are nourished with scripture and prayer everyday. And we pray for all who are suffering all the time. We listen to those most affected by injustice.  We listen to those in fear.  Sometimes we see blessings reach those suffering.  Often, we cannot see a blessing.

Lent gifts us with scriptures that move us to be blessings to others.  Lent calls us to prayer, fasting, almsgiving and reflection.  Lent helps us link up with Jesus in his way of the cross helping us see Jesus’ suffering in people today as they carry their cross.  God is blessing us by helping us see that reality. God blesses our solidarity with those who suffer today.  It is a blessing to nurture our community, to help one another carry our crosses. God blesses us to not think our cross is so big we can’t help others carry theirs.  It doesn’t take heroic martyrdom or giving away all we have.  It takes prayer, knowing prayer goes both ways. 

 We plead with God for healing of loved ones.  We listen to God move us to send loving encouragement to those who are sick, their medical pros and caregivers.  We plead with God for people imprisoned with no criminal record to be released and some are released to tell of their experience in For Profit detention centers with crowds in tight quarters trying to sleep with many others on the cold concrete floor with an open urinal and much too little sanitation, medical care, food, water, human rights and civil rights. We listen to God urge us to pray for each detainee, each agent, each Ukrainian, Sudanese, Middle Easterner, each Minnesotan and each policy maker.  Weve been baptized to share in Jesus’ ministries.  Blessings flow as we listen to Him. 

Denise Mack
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